Three former executives atUbisoft—Thomas François, Serge Hascoët, and Guillaume Patrux—have been handed suspended prison sentences after being found guilty of sexual and psychological harassment.
The trio enabled a troubling internal culture at the studio in the years between 2012 and 2020; described by former staff members as a “boys' club above the law.” The specific incidents detailed in the case include forcibly trying to kiss colleagues, coercing them to do handstands in skirts, and lighting a subordinate’s beard on fire.
All Three Men Received Suspended Sentences
François, formerly editorial vice president, was found guilty of sexual harassment, psychological harassment and attempted sexual assault. He was given a three-year suspended sentence and a fine of €30,000.
A suspended sentence is essentially the deferment of a prison sentence, allowing someone to avoid going to prison as long as they don’t commit another offence while serving the suspended sentence.
One of the incidents François has been accused of involved him tying a woman to an office chair and pushing her into an elevator. In another incident, François allegedly forced a woman to do a handstand when she came to work in a miniskirt. She complied with the request out of fear, saying, “He was my superior, and I was afraid of him.”
At a Back to the Future-themed Christmas party in 2015, François told a female co-worker that he liked her dress and then attempted to forcibly kiss her while others restrained her arms. During the trial, François claimed he acted in this manner because the studio had a “culture of joking around.”
Hascoët, Ubisoft’s former chief creative officer, was found guilty of psychological harassment and complicity in sexual harassment, while being acquitted of a charge of sexual harassment. He received an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of €45,000.
Hascoët was known to demand his assistants perform personal tasks, such as going to his house and waiting for deliveries. He allegedly once blew his nose into a tissue and handed it to a young female colleague, saying she should resell it because “it’s worth gold at Ubisoft.”
“I have never wanted to harass anyone, and I don’t think I have,” Hascoët told the court.
Patrux, a former game director at Ubisoft, was found guilty of psychological harassment, netting him a 12-month suspended sentence and a fine of €10,000. Patrux has been accused of drawing swastikas on a subordinate’s notebook, throwing office equipment around, cracking a whip near someone’s face, and setting a colleague’s beard alight with a lighter.
All three men denied the charges. Ubisoft had been made aware of unsavoury behaviour within the studio, but failed to address these concerns. Ultimately, the only semblance of justice for those affected came from France’s legal system, not from Ubisoft.
